AOS for tourist visa----Help please !!!

[vjing 0]

I am a Canadian, married a US citizen( just got it) Feb 2008. I visited my husband every month on tourist visa. But last time, I was warned in the border that I visited my husband too often. So I decide to stay here just in case I will be rejected to re-enter US.

By the way, my husband just received his US citizen this month. so I am eligible for AOS now.

My questions,

1, How soon can I file AOS ( I entered US on Sept 26th by tourist visa).

2, Is it enought to file the forms

* I-130

* G-325a

*I-864

* I-485

* I-765 (optional)

* I-131 (optional)

3, what is the difference from K visa holder when I file AOS with tourist visa?

4, what else should I know about AOS?

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

vjing

[Heliosphan 1]

I am a Canadian, married a US citizen( just got it) Feb 2008. I visited my husband every month on tourist visa. But last time, I was warned in the border that I visited my husband too often. So I decide to stay here just in case I will be rejected to re-enter US.

By the way, my husband just received his US citizen this month. so I am eligible for AOS now.

My questions,

1, How soon can I file AOS ( I entered US on Sept 26th by tourist visa).

2, Is it enought to file the forms

* I-130

* G-325a

*I-864

* I-485

* I-765 (optional)

* I-131 (optional)

3, what is the difference from K visa holder when I file AOS with tourist visa?

4, what else should I know about AOS?

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

vjing

Hmmm be very careful. I'm not sure how your being married, warned at the border and intent on crossing the border may affect your case. There's a subforum to this one for people adjusting from visas other than spousal ones (I'm adjusting from a student visa for example). You have all the forms right. The difference between adjusting from a K1 and a tourist visa is pretty huge. If you're outside of the US the K1/K3 is what you're supposed to do. If you came into the US without intent to adjust status but ended up doing so, then you can file without going thru the spousal visa. it depends on immigration intent.

[raymaga 25]

Did you marry your husband in February and then return to Canada? If so, you cannot apply for AOS at this time. You would have to have stayed in the U.S. after your marriage in order to file AOS.

If you returned to Canada after your marriage, you will now have to file for a spousal visa.

[vjing 0]

Yes. I returned to Canada many times after marrying my husband. Are you sure Raymaga? I consulted the attorney, who said that I am eligible.

Shall I ask another attorney? Or some one can provide help? Thank you.

[livelife 0]

You can file AOS as soon as now..but you need to prove in your interview that it's not really your intent to stay in the US and using your tourist visa just to get AOS....since you're just on a tourist visa...during your interview you can be honest and tell the consul that you don't want to be separated from your husband anymore since of the experienced that you encountered at the immigration. Gather info like phone bills,electric bills,.insurance policy,these things should be both in your name and of course try to gather pictures of both of you and put label into it.You will also be asked to have a medical from a civil surgeon ,then biometrics/finger printing.....

[cdn_in_wa 1]

Yes. I returned to Canada many times after marrying my husband. Are you sure Raymaga? I consulted the attorney, who said that I am eligible.

Shall I ask another attorney? Or some one can provide help? Thank you.

Your attorney is correct. However, you may have to prove your intent on entry at your AOS interview. If you did enter with intent to stay, then your AOS could be denied.

[raymaga 25]

If you enter the U.S. and marry a U.S. citizen (without intent when you crossed the border into the U.S.), then you can adjust status, as long as you don't leave the U.S. Once you leave the U.S. after your marriage, you will then need a spousal visa.

In order to apply for AOS right after marriage, you would have had to stay in the U.S. until you either got your GC or Advance Parole (AP).

[cdn_in_wa 1]

I am a Canadian, married a US citizen( just got it) Feb 2008. I visited my husband every month on tourist visa. But last time, I was warned in the border that I visited my husband too often. So I decide to stay here just in case I will be rejected to re-enter US.

By the way, my husband just received his US citizen this month. so I am eligible for AOS now.

My questions,

1, How soon can I file AOS ( I entered US on Sept 26th by tourist visa).

2, Is it enought to file the forms

* I-130

* G-325a

*I-864

* I-485

* I-765 (optional)

* I-131 (optional)

3, what is the difference from K visa holder when I file AOS with tourist visa?

4, what else should I know about AOS?

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

vjing

No one here advising you is an attorney. Trust your attorney.

It is not recommended to apply this way.

Geez ... edit to correct language and mess it up again.

Edited October 23, 2008 by cdn_in_wa

[Eric-Pris 1,606]

I think it's pretty clear to most (at least it is to me) what your intent was. You even said that you waited until he just became a citizen, so now you are "eligible" and are filing within 1 month of his naturalization. I'm no detective but it's pretty clear. But my opinion doesn't count, so hope that the IO officer who interviews you doesn't feel this way or not only will you get denied, but may face a ban for visa fraud. Is it worth the risk? You should apply for a spousal (k-3) visa. While it's processing you can stay here with your husband, but then go back for the interview.

[cdn_in_wa 1]

I think it's pretty clear to most (at least it is to me) what your intent was. You even said that you waited until he just became a citizen, so now you are "eligible" and are filing within 1 month of his naturalization. I'm no detective but it's pretty clear. But my opinion doesn't count, so hope that the IO officer who interviews you doesn't feel this way or not only will you get denied, but may face a ban for visa fraud. Is it worth the risk? You should apply for a spousal (k-3) visa. While it's processing you can stay here with your husband, but then go back for the interview.

kid_brooklyn is correct in that it doesn't look good. The fact that your spouse just got Naturalized, and now you arrive and decide to stay.

Don't let the attitude of others get to you. You will find some people on here are less than happy that they had to wait to be with their loved one. Kid is actually one of the lucky ones with a relatively short timeline, too.

[sweetpiano 0]

If you enter the U.S. and marry a U.S. citizen (without intent when you crossed the border into the U.S.), then you can adjust status, as long as you don't leave the U.S. Once you leave the U.S. after your marriage, you will then need a spousal visa.

In order to apply for AOS right after marriage, you would have had to stay in the U.S. until you either got your GC or Advance Parole (AP).

This is somewhat misleading: one can get married in the US, leave and come back on a tourist visa, and subsequently adjust from a tourist visa as long as there was no intent to immigrate (adjust status, stay, remain, call it what you wish) upon the last entry into the US. I myself did just that, however, unlike the OP, I really used the tourist visa just to visit friends and family, and not live with my husband.

Yes, it is not recommended to use a tourist visa while being married to a USC as this raises suspicions at the border and it is up to the border officer to let you in or not, but once admitted and provided there was no intent to immigrate upon entry, it is legal to adjust status if one's circumstances have changed. I agree that the OP's husband's naturalization casts doubts on the intention to adjust status, however it is the OP's statement - "So I decide to stay here just in case I will be rejected to re-enter US" - that provides the clue that there was immigrant intent upon the last entry to the US. The OP will probably fall through the cracks and adjust successfully ("listen to the lawyer", right?). Going the spouse visa route however would eliminate the problem of visa fraud and diminish the risk of denial.

[cdn_in_wa 1]

If you enter the U.S. and marry a U.S. citizen (without intent when you crossed the border into the U.S.), then you can adjust status, as long as you don't leave the U.S. Once you leave the U.S. after your marriage, you will then need a spousal visa.

In order to apply for AOS right after marriage, you would have had to stay in the U.S. until you either got your GC or Advance Parole (AP).

This is somewhat misleading: one can get married in the US, leave and come back on a tourist visa, and subsequently adjust from a tourist visa as long as there was no intent to immigrate (adjust status, stay, remain, call it what you wish) upon the last entry into the US. I myself did just that, however, unlike the OP, I really used the tourist visa just to visit friends and family, and not live with my husband.

Yes, it is not recommended to use a tourist visa while being married to a USC as this raises suspicions at the border and it is up to the border officer to let you in or not, but once admitted and provided there was no intent to immigrate upon entry, it is legal to adjust status if one's circumstances have changed. I agree that the OP's husband's naturalization casts doubts on the intention to adjust status, however it is the OP's statement - "So I decide to stay here just in case I will be rejected to re-enter US" - that provides the clue that there was immigrant intent upon the last entry to the US. The OP will probably fall through the cracks and adjust successfully ("listen to the lawyer", right?). Going the spouse visa route however would eliminate the problem of visa fraud and diminish the risk of denial.

Seems like it might help if we knew a few more details about the OPs situation. How long were they married, what was the plan (was the plan to eventually immigrate to the US?), things like that. If they were waiting for the Naturalization, and then planning to file for US immigration benefits, that points to intent upon entry. Or were they planning to have a cross border marriage indefinitely? Or?

What if the comment "So I decide to stay here just in case I will be rejected to re-enter US" is out of true fear that she will be denied entry to visit her husband, when she had no intent to immigrate? Might be hard to prove, though.

[vjing 0]

I really did not plan to stay in US because I still have a job, a car, and an apt in Canada. Now I have to cancel my all stuff. Meanwhile, all my documents and clothes are in Canada too. How can I prove I did not have intention when crose the border?

In fact, after coming to US, I found this website and visited an attorney and started to know i have AOS choice.

All above are true. but how can I prove?

Help please.

[cdn_in_wa 1]

I really did not plan to stay in US because I still have a job, a car, and an apt in Canada. Now I have to cancel my all stuff. Meanwhile, all my documents and clothes are in Canada too. How can I prove I did not have intention when crose the border?

In fact, after coming to US, I found this website and visited an attorney and started to know i have AOS choice.

All above are true. but how can I prove?

Help please.

Letter from your job, lease for your apartment, registration and insurance for your car, current telephone bill (not closed account at time of crossing), current medical insurance bill, etc.

[himher 634]

The short answer to your original question is yes, your lawyer is correct and you are technically eligible to adjust status from a tourist visa. The problem with your times and dates and case file is that it will be difficult to show your intent NOT to adjust status when you entered the country. If immigration believes that you entered with intent to adjust status and stay then what you are trying to do is not a legal way to immigrate and they will deny your case, while in the meantime while you are waiting for the denial to come in you will likely overstay.

The warnings here are that you should be prepared to prove that you did not intend to stay, and that the adjudication officer who processes your case is instructed to assume that you did enter the country with intent to stay. If there is enough evidence that you did (and your package will have a wedding certificate of some sort with a date that pre-dates your entry, and will have a recent date for when your husband was naturalized as a US citizen and you entered the country after telling an officer at the border that you intended to return and you subsequently did not) the evidence is already stacked against you - and you are risking your marriage and future by just the appearance of impropriety.

I always see this forum as a place to give and receive advice on legal family immigration, and in our case, I do not think I personally would have risked our entire marriage just to cut corners or to dodge the draconian immigration laws. Whatever you choose to do we wish you the best.